Specific terms of the agreement were not disclosed, which involve "carriage" rights and retransmission fees that distributors must pay to air content.

Such potentially lucrative industry quarrels are not uncommon.

It was the day after New Year’s when the previous contract between Tribune and Charter expired without a new agreement, leaving Spectrum viewers in affected markets dark when it came to watching local news and weather on Tribune stations, and most critically for some football fans, the NFL playoffs. With the playoffs set to resume this weekend, there was extra pressure to get a deal done.

Charter is the second largest cable provider in the U.S., behind only Comcast.

Stations in Seattle, Los Angeles, San Diego, Denver, New York, Houston, Sacramento, Kansas City, St. Louis, Cleveland and Indianapolis, were among the markets impacted by the blackout.

Underscoring the bitter nature of the negotiations, Spectrum had broadcast messages to subscribers complaining that Tribune had been demanding a “ridiculous increase.” Some Tribune stations, in turn, aired radio ads urging subscribers to demand a refund for the Tribune channels they were blocked from watching.

Tribune Media CEO Peter Kern countered in an open letter to Tribune TV viewers and Spectrum subscribers earlier this week: “Spectrum’s acts since the disruption began have given you a false picture of our negotiation,” the letter read in part.

“We are not asking for triple or double the rates for our programming. We are asking only for a fair deal, one that is comparable to what every other cable and satellite TV provider pays us for our content. Spectrum, on the other hand, is a huge goliath of a company with over $43 billion in annual revenue and over $10 billion in annual profits – it is using its scale and all of you to try to pressure us to take less than a fair price. The reality is that what Spectrum is saying on TV and online about our negotiations is simply false.”

Suffice it to say that many viewers in the affected markets are pleased the two companies chose to play nice ahead of this weekend's kickoff